franklin roosevelt did that because george washington had done it. i mean there's just something wonderful about that. he got out of the car and walked and so did mrs. obama. why? because jimmy carter did it in 1977. every president since has done it. i mean, >> a great strength to him. he might be more liberal than most people politically. in his personal demeanor, in his family life and in his style he's a very traditional person. that came across. that helps people relate to him. >> ifill: mark said he talked to a democrat who said he thought he did pretty well. did you talk to any republicans? >> i think they thought it was a good speech. people said this was one of his best speeches. some of them thought it was defensive, about defending the welfare state more than being offensive. i think the sentence that really got some republicans more upset was where he said we don't have to choose between protecting the programs for the elderly and securing programs for the young. i would say most republicans say, well, actually we do have a choose. if you